Stanhope throws his hat into ring

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After weeks of denials and apparent lack of interest by
potential Australian candidates, someone publicly put their hand up
for the top job at Telstra.

"I've made my interest known to the search firm," said Telstra's
chief financial officer, John Stanhope.

"Whether I'm a strong candidate in the view of the board or the
search group is yet to be seen," he said at yesterday's press
briefing for the telecom's interim results.

But overseas competition could be strong, with a US analyst
naming potential candidates that could be freed up by recent merger
activity in the US market.

Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski, who will depart no
later than June 30 this year, refused to be drawn into the debate
but offered strong praise for his management team, including Mr
Stanhope.

The news came one day after Commonwealth Bank chief executive
David Murray hosed down speculation he would be interested in the
Telstra job.

"It's obvious that people would want to talk to me but it's just
not on my agenda at the present time," Mr Murray said.

The heads of Optus and Telecom New Zealand, Paul O'Sullivan and
Theresa Gattung, respectively, have denied any interest in the
role. British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington has also ruled
himself out.

But the $US16 billion ($20.6 billion) merger between SBC and
AT&T is likely to put a range of high-level executives into
play, with the two companies expected to shed top-rung talent as
part of the 13,000 jobs that will go.

Jan Dawson, an analyst with IT and communications adviser, Ovum,
named AT&T's president and chief financial officer Bill
Hannigan, and its chief financial officer, Tom Horton, as possible
candidates.

Both were promoted to their positions in January, less than two
weeks before the merger was announced, and might feel that "the
changes will take the wind out of their sails", Ms Dawson said.

"Both men have extensive and impressive resumes which should
make them attractive for outside recruiters, and there are others
who might consider jumping ship too. All in all, Telstra could do
worse than tapping one of these senior leaders for its own CEO
post."

Global recruiter Egon Zehnder was handed the job of finding a
new CEO just before Christmas.